Energy News Europe - week 47, 2011

Belgium

GDF Suez CEO criticises the Government L'Echo, 2011-11-18
Gérard Mestrallet, the CEO of the French energy company GDF Suez, has said that the decisions taken by the Belgian politicians negotiating the 2012 budget will have severe consequences for GDF Suez and its competitors E.on, SPE and EDF. Mestrallet claims that the industrial sector will also suffer as a result. Mestrallet has said that the decision will have severe consequences for Belgium too. The decision means that a 2009 agreement between the State and GDF Suez will not be respected.

Denmark

Government presents its proposal for energy action plan Politiken, 2011-11-25
The Danish government presented its proposal for a green energy action plan "Our Energy" today. The proposal aims to make the Danish energy and transport systems 100% CO2-free by 2050. The government will spend DKK 5.60bn (EUR 753.12mn USD 1bn) in efforts to make the country's energy systems more climate-friendly. This includes measures to enable companies and households to make investments in energy saving and to converting electricity and heating production gradually to renewable energy. The transport sector will be geared to using renewable energy, which comprises both electric cars as a long-term solution and increased use of bio fuels as a short-term solution.

Expansion of North Sea grid needed Ingeniøren, 2011-11-25
Martin Lidegaard, Denmark's Energy Minister, claims that Denmark should lead the way for the electricity grid expansion in the North Sea. This was a topic of debate in regards to the European Climate Foundation's release of Power Perspectives 2030, which received support from DONG Energy's CEO, Anders Eldrup, and Head of Dansk Energi Lars Aagaard. Lidegaard, Eldrup and Aagaard expressed that the expansion must become a priority, as distribution capacity has not been enhanced in line with production capacity increases in the North Sea.

Finland

Fortum is looking for growth Kauppalehti Optio, 2011-11-24
According to Finnish power company Fortum's CEO Tapio Kuula, the company is expanding East because it has to grow and the Russian government guarantees revenues. Fortum has acquired the rights to an investment programme worth EUR 2.5bn. A so-called capacity fee has been guaranteed for the energy generated by the programme for the next 10 years. In addition, the company has acquired existing capacity with EUR 1.2bn, and other production facilities for EUR 100mn.

Eon consolidates operations
Handelsblatt, 2011-11-23
Eon gave details of the plan to reduce workforce from currently 80,000 people by up to 11,000. About half of the job cuts will be made in Germany. The subsidiaries Eon Energie (Munich) and Eon Ruhrgas (Essen) will be dissolved. At Munich, the number of jobs will fall from 2,500 to about 1,000. Munich will remain the headquarters of Eon Bayern, the regional power supplier for Bavaria. Maybe Munich will become the headquarters of gas and electricity distribution in Germany.

At Düsseldorf the number of jobs might shrink from more than 2,000 to 1,300. Düsseldorf is the headquarters of Eon group, and at Düsseldorf Eon will consolidate its wholesale business by merging Eon Energy Trading with the wholesale activities of Ruhrgas. Düsseldorf might become the headquarters for renewable energy.

Norway

Statoil's Centrica deal gives funding for new investments
Dagens Næringsliv, 2011-11-22
Statoil's large sale of holdings on the Norwegian continental shelf to UK player Centrica gives the Norwegian oil giant cash to continue its hunt for major discoveries both in Norway and abroad. The deal with Centrica, which also includes a long-term gas delivery contract, gives Statoil a total of over NOK 100bn (EUR 12.79bn USD 17.25bn). Analyst Magnus Smistad in Fondsfinans speculates the Statoil is now going to focus on large fields, leaving smaller and mature fields to others.

United Kingdom

Businesses to see energy bills rise by 19% by 2020 Financial Times, 2011-11-24
The UK Government's annual energy statement has revealed that medium sized companies will see their annual gas and electricity bills increase by an average of 19% by 2020 and by 28% by 2030. The report states that electricity bills will increase by 34% by 2020 and rise by 45% by 2030. According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, these predicted increases are lower than those forecast 12 months ago.

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Vattenfall is a European energy company with approximately 20,000 employees. For more than 100 years we have electrified industries, supplied energy to people's homes and modernised our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We now want to make fossil-free living possible within one generation.